Deciphering Interactions Among Marine Introduced Parasites and Native Hosts

由于全球运输的增加，世界上的海洋联系更加紧密。这种运输将生物带到了以前没有发现过的地方。其中一些成为入侵性物种，破坏了当地的海洋栖息地。在这些入侵物种中，寄生虫尤其麻烦。它们通常很小，很容易被忽视，并可能导致本地物种的大量死亡。尽管海洋入侵寄生虫造成了严重的负面影响，但科学家们仍然缺乏对它们成功在新栖息地建立自己的机制的深入了解。本项目将研究关于海洋入侵寄生虫建立的三个主要问题：(1)寄生虫到达新栖息地时如何识别新宿主？(2)为什么侵入性寄生虫能如此迅速地传播给新宿主？(3)新的寄主种群如何在寄生虫严重侵害的情况下保持生存能力？本研究系统以北美太平洋沿岸的原生蓝泥虾为研究对象；一种从亚洲引进的吸血寄生虫；以及寄生虫的原始宿主——亚洲泥虾。该项目将极大地扩展海洋入侵生物学的知识，并有助于制定有效的保护策略，以避免不可预见的生态灾难。一项公民科学计划将在阿拉斯加建立，以监测泥虾和寄生虫的种群动态。将建立一个以博物馆为基础的推广计划，以鼓励代表性不足的小学和中学女孩对海洋科学的兴趣。此外，研究生、本科生和高中生将参与研究，以培养下一代科学家。该提案由生物科学理事会综合有机体系统（IOS）部门的共生、防御和自我识别（SDS）项目和地球科学理事会海洋科学部（OCE）的生物海洋学部门共同资助。为了描述入侵的弓形虫等足类寄生虫（Orthione griffenis）和宿主虾（Upogebia pugettensis和Upogebia major）之间的相互作用，该研究项目将生成从加利福尼亚到阿拉斯加整个入侵范围内的生态、行为和遗传数据。首先，宏基因组学和行为实验将测试寄主洞穴中的微生物线索是否在吸引寄生虫幼虫定居、帮助寄生虫从亚洲向北美河口过渡方面发挥了重要作用。其次，实验将解决新宿主与寄生虫之间缺乏共同进化历史，或者寄生虫的“敌人释放”是否是新宿主高传染性的主要驱动因素。这些假设将通过比较寄生虫在新旧分布范围内不同宿主上的流行程度来验证。最后，双酶切位点相关DNA方法将用于研究新宿主的群体基因组学。本研究探讨了入侵寄生物、新寄主、原寄主和海洋河口微生物群落之间多层次的相互作用。研究结果将作为网虫入侵模式的模型，并有助于发现和监测其他潜在的海洋寄生虫入侵或流行。将设立公民科学计划和以博物馆为基础的外展计划，以鼓励公众对海洋科学的兴趣。此外，研究生、本科生和高中生将参与研究，以培养下一代科学家。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The world's oceans become more connected through increased global transportation. This transportation has brought organisms to places where they were previously not found. Some of them become invasive and disrupt native marine habitats. Among these invasive species, parasites are particularly troublesome. They are usually small, easily overlooked, and can cause mass mortality of native species. Despite the serious negative impacts of marine invasive parasites, scientists still lack an in-depth understanding of mechanisms that enable them to successfully establish themselves in a new habitat. This project will study three major questions regarding marine invasive parasites' establishment: (1) How do parasites recognize new hosts when arriving at a new habitat? (2) Why can invasive parasites spread so fast to new hosts? (3) How do new host populations maintain viability despite heavy parasite infestation? This study system is the native blue mud shrimp from the Pacific coast of North America; a blood sucking parasite introduced from Asia; and the parasite's original host, the Asian mud shrimp. This project will greatly expand the knowledge of marine invasive biology and help develop effective conservation strategies to avoid unforeseen ecological disasters. A citizen science program will be established in Alaska to monitor population dynamics of the mud shrimp and the parasite. A museum-based outreach program will be established to encourage excitement about marine science in underrepresented elementary and middle school girls. In addition, graduate students, undergraduate students and high school students will participate in research to train the next generation of scientists. This proposal was co-funded by the Symbiosis, Defense and Self-recognition (SDS) program in the Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Division of the Biological Sciences Directorate and by the Biological Oceanography section of the Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) of the Geosciences Directorate.To characterize interactions between the invasive bopyrid isopod parasite (Orthione griffenis) and the host shrimps (Upogebia pugettensis and Upogebia major), this research program will generate ecological, behavioral, and genetic data over the entire range of the invasion, from California to Alaska. First, metagenomics and behavioral experiments will test whether microbial cues in the host burrows play a major role in attracting parasite larval settlement, aiding the parasite's transition from Asian to North American estuaries. Second, experiments will address whether the lacking of co-evolutionary history between the new host and the parasite, or an "enemy release" for the parasite, is the main driver for the high infectious rate on the new host. The hypotheses will be tested by comparing parasite prevalence on different hosts in their old and new distribution ranges. Lastly, the double digest restriction site-associated DNA approach will be used to investigate the population genomics of the new host. The research addresses multiple-level interactions among the invasive parasite, the new host, the original host, and the marine estuarine microbial communities. Results will serve as a model of bopyrid invasion pattern, and aid the discovery and monitoring of other potential marine parasite invasions or epidemics. A citizen science program and a museum-based outreach program will be established to encourage excitement about marine science in the public. In addition, graduate students, undergraduate students and high school students will participate in research to train the next generation of scientists.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.